We’re excited to introduce you to the latest character from GIPHY Studios, C. Andy! Born out of the constant desire to create a character with the same appeal and cuteness as Hello Kitty, our Senior Art Director, Parker Jackson, decided that what could be a sweeter character than an actual piece of candy?
C. Andy (the C is short for Cecil) is made of candy, comes in gum/gummy and chocolate flavors, and has a sweet tooth of their own. Producer, Sepp Dasbach, talked with Parker to take a closer look back at this project.
What was your inspiration behind C.Andy?
All things Sanrio. I’m a huge Hello Kitty fan and it’s always been my dream to create a character that has that kind of broad appeal and the ability for people to project themselves onto an essentially blank canvas. In addition to that, I wanted to make something that could still be cute but inject a little more adult humor into it.
I’ve made characters in the past (Mushy) but haven’t had a chance to do a character in years so it was a project that was kind of about returning to form and stretching a muscle I hadn’t used in a while.
What do you hope people take away from your project?
All and all, when I make characters like this, I just want people to smile. Maybe chuckle and think “That’s cute.” I cherish the cute things in life because they’re fleeting and people need as many moments of sweet cute things to take their mind off of reality as much as possible.
What was your favorite part of the project?
Hmmm…Probably the moment when I realized the name C. Andy was the perfect name for a piece of personified candy and that no one else had already made a candy character with that name pun.
What is your favorite clip from the project?
Has to be the gum shoe one. I think it was the first concept sketch that I made that made me believe I could do a lot of funny but slightly edgy things with this character.
See more from the project on GIPHY.
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